Roman Catholic Pope. His strong beliefs in the power of the church let him to the Vatican appointment as papal nuncio in Munich and Berlin in the 1920s where the future pope employed Sister Mary Pascalina as his housekeeper giving a woman extraordinary powers in the affairs of the Vatican. He dealt directly with Germany and in 1933 and negotiated the 'Reichskonkordat' with Adolf Hitler. This provided that Church law be imposed on German Catholics. In exchange, the church agreed to stay out of political and social affairs in Germany. After the signing, the church would not participate or even comment on German political and social action. The Concordat allowed Germany to initiate its programs of Jewish annihilation. There was no one left to speak out. The tone of the future Pope Pius XII pontificate had been created. He was born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli in Rome to Filippo and Virginia Pacelli their second son and third of their four children. Eugenio attended an elementary school conducted by the Sisters of Divine Providence located in easy walking distance from the families apartment and then continued his studies at the Ennio Quirino Visconti Lyceum. The family had a tradition of working for the Vatican. He was a grandson of Marcantonio Pacelli, founder of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, a nephew of Ernesto Pacelli, a key financial advisor to Pope Leo XII and his father Filippo was dean of the Vatican lawyers. At the age of 18, he entered the Capranica Seminary followed by enrolment at the Gregorian University. After ordination, Father Pacelli's first assignment was as a curate at Chiesa Nuova, the church where he served as an altar boy while continuing studies for a doctorate in Cannon Law and Civil Law which culminated in an appointment by Pope Benedict XV as Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria where he was consecrated a bishop. A new appointment made him Apostolic Nuncio to the German Weimar Republic and Pacelli received the red hat of a Cardinal. A year later Pacelli was Cardinal Secretary of State arranging concordats with Bavaria, Prussia, Austria and Germany. He made many diplomatic visits throughout Europe and the Americas, including an extensive visit to the United States. Following the death of Pius XI, Cardinal Pacelli was elected Pope on his 63rd birthday and took the name Pius XII and his pontificate began on the eve of the Second World War. The Vatican would ultimately be ringed by Nazi troops but were allowed to conduct business as usual. During his reign, Pius canonized eight saints, beatifying five people. Only twice in his pontificate did he hold a consistory to create new cardinals. Pius XII established diplomatic relations with the Japanese Empire in 1942. The Vatican with only Swiss guards for protection, Pius preserved neutrality for the small state surmising it was a better way for the Church to continue to function where possible in occupied Europe and Nazi-allied states while secretly saving lives of Jews and other minorities throughout the occupied continent. He concentrated on practical measures, such as hiding Jews in convents and monasteries while operating an "underground railroad" of secret escape routes set up by prominent Catholic clerics and ordinary citizens. With the war approaching its end in 1945, Pius advocated a lenient policy by the Allied leaders for the vanquished. He attempted to negotiate an early German and Japanese surrender, but his initiatives failed. The Vatican added muscle to its words by providing the means for many Nazis to escape to South America. The members of the puppet Croatian Ustashe government escaped in mass to the U.S. and Spain using Vatican passports while wearing church garb. The Pope was dogged with ill health in the last years of his life exasperated by a fake medical doctor who won Pius's trust. His treatments kept the Pontiff on a downward trend with chronic hiccups and rotting teeth before dying from circulatory phenomenon at the Papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, located fifteen miles from the Vatican. Though dismissed from the Papal household, he gained admittance as the pope lay dying and took pictures which he tried to sell. The charlatan doctor then turned embalmer which caused the body of Pius to disintegrate rapidly causing the Vatican considerable embarrassment during the elaborate funeral rites for the Pope. Post Papal era Sister Mary Pascalina returned to a life of an ordinary nun but worked tirelessly for the canonization of Pope Pius XII which bore fruit during the reign of Pope John Paul II when he raised Pius to Venerable, the first step through the process of sainthood. Pius's actions or inactions during World War II have become a matter of major dispute which has halted the Sainthood process. Only five popes in the past thousand years have been declared saints by the Vatican. Many books have been written that exposes the Vatican's complicity with Hitler during the Holocaust. John Cornwell, a Catholic who taught at Jesus College in Cambridge, England, authored "Hitler's Pope," the most damming. Then the most provocative accusation of the Pope's neutrality is by Rolf Hochhuth, who wrote the play based on historical evidence "The Deputy" addressing the question of why the Pope never spoke out in defence of the Jews, Catholics themselves were being persecuted during the Holocaust, and thus, the prevention of further persecution of the Catholics was another reason why Pope Pius did not denounce Hitler. The fear of Communism was a greater threat to religion than Nazism and the Vatican chose not to divide against the Nazis.
Roman Catholic Pope. His strong beliefs in the power of the church let him to the Vatican appointment as papal nuncio in Munich and Berlin in the 1920s where the future pope employed Sister Mary Pascalina as his housekeeper giving a woman extraordinary powers in the affairs of the Vatican. He dealt directly with Germany and in 1933 and negotiated the 'Reichskonkordat' with Adolf Hitler. This provided that Church law be imposed on German Catholics. In exchange, the church agreed to stay out of political and social affairs in Germany. After the signing, the church would not participate or even comment on German political and social action. The Concordat allowed Germany to initiate its programs of Jewish annihilation. There was no one left to speak out. The tone of the future Pope Pius XII pontificate had been created. He was born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli in Rome to Filippo and Virginia Pacelli their second son and third of their four children. Eugenio attended an elementary school conducted by the Sisters of Divine Providence located in easy walking distance from the families apartment and then continued his studies at the Ennio Quirino Visconti Lyceum. The family had a tradition of working for the Vatican. He was a grandson of Marcantonio Pacelli, founder of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, a nephew of Ernesto Pacelli, a key financial advisor to Pope Leo XII and his father Filippo was dean of the Vatican lawyers. At the age of 18, he entered the Capranica Seminary followed by enrolment at the Gregorian University. After ordination, Father Pacelli's first assignment was as a curate at Chiesa Nuova, the church where he served as an altar boy while continuing studies for a doctorate in Cannon Law and Civil Law which culminated in an appointment by Pope Benedict XV as Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria where he was consecrated a bishop. A new appointment made him Apostolic Nuncio to the German Weimar Republic and Pacelli received the red hat of a Cardinal. A year later Pacelli was Cardinal Secretary of State arranging concordats with Bavaria, Prussia, Austria and Germany. He made many diplomatic visits throughout Europe and the Americas, including an extensive visit to the United States. Following the death of Pius XI, Cardinal Pacelli was elected Pope on his 63rd birthday and took the name Pius XII and his pontificate began on the eve of the Second World War. The Vatican would ultimately be ringed by Nazi troops but were allowed to conduct business as usual. During his reign, Pius canonized eight saints, beatifying five people. Only twice in his pontificate did he hold a consistory to create new cardinals. Pius XII established diplomatic relations with the Japanese Empire in 1942. The Vatican with only Swiss guards for protection, Pius preserved neutrality for the small state surmising it was a better way for the Church to continue to function where possible in occupied Europe and Nazi-allied states while secretly saving lives of Jews and other minorities throughout the occupied continent. He concentrated on practical measures, such as hiding Jews in convents and monasteries while operating an "underground railroad" of secret escape routes set up by prominent Catholic clerics and ordinary citizens. With the war approaching its end in 1945, Pius advocated a lenient policy by the Allied leaders for the vanquished. He attempted to negotiate an early German and Japanese surrender, but his initiatives failed. The Vatican added muscle to its words by providing the means for many Nazis to escape to South America. The members of the puppet Croatian Ustashe government escaped in mass to the U.S. and Spain using Vatican passports while wearing church garb. The Pope was dogged with ill health in the last years of his life exasperated by a fake medical doctor who won Pius's trust. His treatments kept the Pontiff on a downward trend with chronic hiccups and rotting teeth before dying from circulatory phenomenon at the Papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, located fifteen miles from the Vatican. Though dismissed from the Papal household, he gained admittance as the pope lay dying and took pictures which he tried to sell. The charlatan doctor then turned embalmer which caused the body of Pius to disintegrate rapidly causing the Vatican considerable embarrassment during the elaborate funeral rites for the Pope. Post Papal era Sister Mary Pascalina returned to a life of an ordinary nun but worked tirelessly for the canonization of Pope Pius XII which bore fruit during the reign of Pope John Paul II when he raised Pius to Venerable, the first step through the process of sainthood. Pius's actions or inactions during World War II have become a matter of major dispute which has halted the Sainthood process. Only five popes in the past thousand years have been declared saints by the Vatican. Many books have been written that exposes the Vatican's complicity with Hitler during the Holocaust. John Cornwell, a Catholic who taught at Jesus College in Cambridge, England, authored "Hitler's Pope," the most damming. Then the most provocative accusation of the Pope's neutrality is by Rolf Hochhuth, who wrote the play based on historical evidence "The Deputy" addressing the question of why the Pope never spoke out in defence of the Jews, Catholics themselves were being persecuted during the Holocaust, and thus, the prevention of further persecution of the Catholics was another reason why Pope Pius did not denounce Hitler. The fear of Communism was a greater threat to religion than Nazism and the Vatican chose not to divide against the Nazis.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8420/pius_xii: accessed
), memorial page for Pope Pius XII (2 Mar 1876–9 Oct 1958), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8420, citing Saint Peter's Basilica,
Vatican City;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Pope Pius XII
Fulfill Photo Request for Pope Pius XII
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.